The present invention relates to an electronic timepiece using a thermoelectric element.
An electronic timepiece having a thermoelectric element is described in, for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 20483/1980.
The thermoelectric element described in the publication is provided with a cold electrode and a hot electrode and utilizes Seebeck effect wherein temperatures of the cold electrode and the hot electrode are made different to thereby generate an electromotive force in the thermoelectric element. An embodiment described in the publication is shown in FIG. 12.
As illustrated in FIG. 12, a thermoelectric element 1002 is provided inside of a back plate 1003 in contact with a case of a wrist watch and a hot electrode is provided on the side of the back plate of the thermoelectric element.
In contrast thereto a cold electrode is provided on the side of a movement 1001 at the bottom face of a dial.
However, only the constitution of the thermoelectric element and the movement is described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 20483/1980 showing the electronic piece having the thermoelectric element as illustrated in FIG. 12 and the constitution of the electronic piece having a detailed constitution of the thermoelectric element is not shown.
The generator function of a thermoelectric element is in proportion to numbers of n-type semiconductors and p-type semiconductors and the thicker the thickness of the n-type semiconductor and the p-type semiconductor, the larger the generated electromotive force and the higher the generator efficiency.
However, when this thermoelectric element is used in an electronic timepiece, it is necessary to make the volume of the thermoelectric element as small as possible and further, the promotion of the generator function is required.